


hope

by chevrefoil



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Ambiguous Warrior of Light, Character Study?, Gen, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 14:24:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13102041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chevrefoil/pseuds/chevrefoil
Summary: oh, how you believed it.





	hope

you were taught to believe hope was a four letter word, a word uttered in the face of impossible odds, a word upon which hung the dreams of the few. you were taught to believe hope was immeasurable, insurmountable, a key to the door when it seemed its lock could never be broken. you were taught to believe that hope laid within, that your heart held soft embers that could grow to a raging inferno.

and you believed it.

_ oh, how you believed it. _

you believed it when you stood in front of both gods and men. you believed it with each swing of your weapon, with each drop of blood you spilled, with each smile you were able to save. wounds were nothing. pain was dismissed. as long as you could be a savior, as long as you could provide those who needed it with the hope they longed for, anything could be overlooked. 

yes, you dedicated yourself wholly to the cause. they needed you to fight their battles when they could not. they needed you to be their sword and shield, their leader and friend, their jury and executioner. you would fill these roles. you  _had_ to. who else could do it but you, the one blessed by the crystal and privy to Her words?

_ all roads led here. _

when, then, did you start to see yourself when you thought of hope? at some point, it became definitive. you swing your weapon. you carve your name into the flesh of gods and men alike. you stand at the top, bruised and bloody. you became the face of rebellion.  you became the key.  you became the light, the beacon, the banner your allies would hold aloft to inspire thousands and your enemies seek to destroy. 

_ you _ became hope.

and when you did, you stopped believing. when you did, you retreated into yourself. when you did, you realized they would die for you (and far too many already have).

and you know why.

**Author's Note:**

> school's out, hadn't wrote anything except papers and lab reports for a long time, needed to write something short. thanks for reading!


End file.
